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Thursday, July 3, 2014

Heroes & Perspective

In my childhood, I idolized my sister. I wanted to do everything she did, be everywhere she was. So when we were in middle school (maybe she was high school age?) and she read a book on Hank Aaron, I, too, chose a baseball book to read. Of course I didn't want to be a copy cat, so I picked a different author, different ball player.

My Luke & I, the (auto)biography of Mr & Mrs. Henry Louis Gehrig was my first selection. After that, I read every book about the Iron Horse I could get my hands on. My love for the New York Yankees started that day, as I stood between the stacks of my local library.

Seeing the Yanks play in the same stadium where Gehrig played so many of his 2,130 consecutive games was near the top of my bucket list. In the final season before it was torn down, my love and I traveled north for a game.

...yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the
earth...look at these grand men. which of you wouldn't consider it the
highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one
day...when you have a mother-in-law who takes sides with you and
squabbles with her own daughter, that's something...when you have a
father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an
education...I might have been given a bad break, but I've awful lot to
live for. Thank you.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a monster, which slowly robs its victims of their motor skills. How could Gehrig stand before the crowd and say he was lucky? He'd already lost the the ability to do his job, his sport. He eventually lost his mobility. Less than 2 years after declaring himself "the luckiest man" he lost his life to the effects of ALS.

Perspective changes everything.

On this Independence Day - it seems fitting to celebrate a son of immigrant parents who rose above his meager beginnings, set records which would take decades to be broken, and humbly inspired a nation for generations to come.

5 comments:

I love this! What a great attitude he had. A friend lost his life to this at 36 years old. I've also taken care of several people with it. It's a terrible disease.I love the picture of you two at the game - what a cute couple!

beautiful post! (although as a Braves fan I have to go with your sister's choice LOL)! Thanks for the reminder of how thankful I should be! (BTW- will you be at the Fireball run tonight? I'm not running but I'll be there)